Safe With Mellark: Christmas
by MissBunburyHope
Summary: If Peeta was ever unsure that Katniss loved him, Willow would always disagree. How could she persuade him the truth, though? She would remind him of the past, of course. An outtake from Safe With Mellark.


"Tell me about the two of you, Pete. Tell me about how incredible everything is, now," said Willow softly, leaning her forehead against the wall. "I know how much you love her and I know how much she loves you, but I want you to tell me all about it."  
"If you already know, why do I need to tell you?" replied Peeta, his voice sounding broken.  
"You need to convince yourself, more than you need to convince me," Willow told her best friend. Then, she waited for him to speak, only to hear silence, so she spoke again. "Okay. Let's start at the beginning. When you got back six months ago, after the Victory Tour and after the two of you were engaged, what happened?"  
"We talked to each other more," Peeta finally answered, after a few minutes more of silence. "I mean, we spoke before. But it was friendly talk after the Victory Tour."  
"What did you talk about?" asked Willow.  
"Anything, except from what we needed to. We were struggling to believe that we were actually going to get married. So we didn't talk about it, unless we had to," admitted Peeta. "We spoke about really pointless things?"  
"Like?" Willow pushed.  
"Things one of us did, but the other never did. Strangely, her family in the Seam had more Christmas traditions than everyone in Town did, put together." Peeta still sounded shocked to think of what he had discovered, so his best friend allowed his thoughts to settle again.  
Willow began to smile, now that he was not so hung up over whatever crazy thought had captured his brain. "What kind of stuff did they do differently?"  
"When they were in the Seam, they didn't have enough money to follow some things through, but there were many things that they wanted to do, if they ever got the chance," Peeta explained. "They thought you were meant to have a huge dinner, with turkey, cranberry sauce, roasted potatoes and tinned of vegetables. They had little stockings on their fireplace, which would be filled with small gifts. And they always had a decorated tree in their front room."  
"So that's why you did all that stuff this year," concluded Willow.  
Of course, she was referring to the Christmas they had shared with the Everdeens, rather than the usual one that they had had with the other Mellarks, a day earlier than it should have been. Willow felt as if she was intruding on something that should have been an exclusive family only meal, but Peeta insisted. He said that she was near enough family to him, and she might as well come because he wouldn't be letting her spend the day on her own.  
Willow had suggested that her best friend spent the day with Katniss, as it would be their first Christmas together, but Peeta said there was no need to change what they had almost become their tradition. However, they had a Christmas meal with Peeta's family on Christmas Eve instead, so Willow had stayed with Peeta that night.  
In fact, when Peeta asked for her help, they both made a stocking full for everyone in the Everdeen family, but Katniss' was especially thought out. Then, when they'd finished, they snuck into the night and delivered the stockings, without anyone else knowing. After that, they returned to Peeta's house, sleeping until the next morning.  
When they went around to see the Everdeens the next morning, they all exchanged gifts beside the decorated Christmas tree. The meal they had was more elaborate than Willow had had before, but she had nothing she could repay them with, so she stayed with Prim and Mrs Everdeen that evening. At least she did, whilst Peeta took Katniss for a walk in the snow.  
"Did I ever tell you how much Katniss appreciated her present?" Peeta asked quietly, sounding wistful.  
"You never told me what it was," reasoned Willow, her hand brushing hair out of her eyes.  
"Well, she loved it and I loved what she gave me," Peeta muttered. "But, to be fair, she also told me that she just loved the fact that someone really cared for her because she was scared no one ever would."  
Willow stayed quiet for a few minutes, leaving her best friend to think about everything that he had just thought of. Then, she whispered, "Pete?"  
"Hmm?" replied Peeta.  
"Are you still worried she doesn't love you?" questioned Willow.  
She heard Peeta sigh, before he said, "No."  
Willow smiled. "And why do you think that?"  
"Because I love her more than anything and she told me the same thing," Peeta answered.  
"I told you so," boasted Willow.  
Peeta chuckled, and then stated, "You bring Christmas cheer to my life all year around."


End file.
